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Alexander’s, Chester

Posted by Charlie in 2002 John Jorgenson & Friends UK Tour

Our drive today is not far, so we had a chance to meet up with old acquaintances beforehand. On the way to Chester we stopped off at a pub for lunch, and were joined by Ralph and Gerry Ellis. Ralph was the original guitarist from the Swingin Blue Jeans, the group who gave the Beatles their earliest opening spots at the Cavern Club. Ralph and Gerry have become good friends of the band, via JJ, who met them a while back. They arrived in true American style – Ralph was driving his Cadillac!

A couple of hours later, we were replete with pub food and ready to tackle the 30 mile journey into Chester. I thought that FINDING the gig was going to be a problem, but JJ and Alan had played here before with the Hellecasters, and their memories were good enough to get us there without a single U-turn! Backing into the tiny alleyway proved to be a test of my driving skills – one which I passed easily, I might add!

This is another totally ‘unplugged’ gig. Too small for any miking of the

drums, that’s for sure. In the end, I chose an open pair of ear monitors, to allow me to hear the other instruments, and just had John’s acoustic guitar and the vocals in the mix (if you can call it that!). Ralph and Gerry brought some friends, and the nephew of an old friend of mine came (Ben Draper – a musician himself)… the crowd was not exactly huge… but once again we did our best to entertain the people who DID come. We are staying in 2 different B&B’s tonight – on opposite sides of town, too! Who knows the logic behind THAT decision. But we DO have separate rooms. As it happens, we probably could have all stayed at the one place, as the rooms that JJ and I had contained several beds each. It was also quite comfortable. In fact the B&B was in the process of being completely refurbished, and our rooms were amongst the first to get the treatment!